Samba Financial second quarter net profit edges higher

Saudi’s Samba Financial Group posted a 5.1 percent rise in second-quarter net profit on the back of an increase in operating income, it said in a bourse filing on Tuesday, slightly exceeding analysts’ forecasts.

The kingdom’s second-largest listed lender by market value said that its second quarter net profit increased to 1.16 billion riyals ($309.3 million) versus 1.1 billion riyals in the corresponding period last year.

Net profit for the first six months of 2012 was 2.3 billion riyals, up 2.3 percent from the 2.2 billion riyals reported in the first half of last year.

Total operating income for the three months to June 30 was 1.75 billion riyals, a 6.7 percent increase on the same period last year.

Profit from special commissions dropped by 3 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, while loans and advances at the end of the quarter stood at 96 billion riyals, up from 82 billion riyals a year earlier.

Loan growth continues to be strong in the kingdom, with credit growth up 14.7 percent year-on-year in May, according to figures from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.

Saudi banks are benefiting from expansionary fiscal policies, ample liquidity and improving corporate loan demand, according to a July 2 report from Deutsche Bank, with the German bank expecting Q2 net profit across the sector to increase by 6 percent year-on-year.